MG Engine Swaps Forum

It'll work, I swear to God! I just was eyeballing and measuring a 430 Buick engine and comparing it to my 215 install, and there is room! The steering will have to be re-routed, very compact custom headers made, the slam panel and radiator moved all the way up, but it can be done without losing the heater, and probably without using a remote oil filter! A gear reduction starter will be needed of course, and in a CB car such as mine the corners will have to come off the shelf about an inch and a half back. (I'd recommend a RB car for this one) *SOMEBODY* seriously needs to do this one. In fact I'd do it myself if I had a suitable car for it.

The recommended engine would be an early Buick 455 as that would be the lightest of the BBB series, with a weight of about 450lbs. Aluminum heads and intake would drop that to around 400lbs, well within the capabilities of the car and suspension. A T-5 transmission should work just fine, whatever axle you prefer, and the tried and true under-body stiffeners welded in. The intake is going to stick through the hood unless you make some trick custom unit for it but aside from that I can think of no real problems with it that can't be easily solved.

Seriously. Somebody needs to do this.

Anybody know of a cheap shell near Cincinnati?

Jim

Like this

Then you can go like this:

Looks like a big block Chevy to me.

What's the matter, Jim, don't have enough HP, already?

No, I don't think so, you probably don't realize how compact the BBB actually is. There's no reason why the valve covers should have to stick through the hood, an RB car is high enough for the exhaust to go underneath, and there's no good reason to resort to such radically wide flares on the back. Don't get me wrong I think that car's attractive and interesting, but I think this one should be kept a lot closer to a stock appearance. With a little creativity with the intake I think the stock hood can close on it.

The stroke of the BBB is the shortest of all big blocks. At 3.900" it is only .050" longer than the small block Buick engines (340/350 is 3.850" but the bore is over 1/2" larger at 4-5/16". The engine is wider and longer, but not that much taller.

Jim

Ahh Jim, you really have it bad don't you. High horsepower fever! You know that once infected this bad there is absolutely no cure known to man. ;-)
I would have thought the blown 215 would have been enough, but now you're talking about 455 cubes. What's another 100 pounds on the front, the weight distribution will more than be corrected by the big Dana or Ford 9" rear and the full tube chassis I'm sure. The rear flares are already big enough to house something like a 275 tire, so traction might not be too bad.
I hope you know I'm just kidding you. I like the idea of the big block, I just think how nice it would be in a real sleeper with a nice low intake and a 4 barrel. Just idle by and let the twin 3" pipes out the rear blow them away and make them wonder what was that? Put on some early B steel wheels, widened of course, with the hubcaps in place, to really suck them in.

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Bill Young
'73 Midget
'59 MGA

There is a fine line between a 'hobby' and 'mental illness'.

Want real power?

Go electric http://www.nedra.com/ (see C&D this month)

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

bills Wrote:
Don't think I would like the exhaust note.

Great interview with Otmar Ebenhoech at that site.

V8MGBV8 Wrote:
Yeah, but I hear the performance is electrifying........

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

bills Wrote:


After watching that video, I'm sitting here daydreaming about an electric all-wheel drive MGB. It would need a sound generator to make V12 Ferrari noises!

HEY! Start yer own thread for this electric stuff! We're talkin Big Blocks here!

Seriously though, I think a stone cold sleeper is the way to go. Nothin to give it away but the attitude. I'd love somebody to grab it an growl but I'll tell you guys what, somebody finds me a real cheap (free maybe?) usable shell and I'll do it. Could even be a GT, I don't care. It CAN be done, so it HAS to be done. It's not the high horsepower fever really, (YES IT IS!!!) (denial is everything...) it's just that the whole project is so right.

Think about it, the MGB-V8 started with the smallest Buick V8 engine ever made. It just won't be complete until it has been done with the largest Buick V8 engine, now will it? We simply have to do this, and by all rights it should be a group effort for the benefit of MG posterity. Let's show the world that we CAN hang with the big dogs, and do it with style, flair, AND a small budget!

'Course if I was doin' MY car I'd have to put a blower on it. ;-)

Jim

Jim Blackwood Wrote:
There goes the sleeper!

I think doing a GT would be good idea.

Any way you do it, it won't be fast enough.

See http://kenvoss.com/ (blown SBC)

and also a 427 powered Bugeye, the URL for which I can't lay my hands on (anyone?)

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Bill Spohn www.rhodo.citymax.com/carstuff.html
Current: 1958 MGA Twincam (race car (170 bhp)),1962 MGA Deluxe Coupe (98 bhp)
1957 Jamaican MGA (200 bhp)1965 1971 Jensen Interceptor (350 bhp)
2009 Pontiac Solstice GXP Coupe (375 bhp)
2007 BMW Z4M coupe (340 bhp)
Recent: 1969 MGC roadster (175 bhp),Jensen CV8 (375 bhp),
1969 Lamborghini Islero S (350 bhp), 1988 Fiero GT turbo (300 bhp)
North Vancouver BC

Who ever said it had to be the fastest? Not meeee! That's not even the point. It simply must be done. It needs to be safe, handle impeccably, have good brakes, look reasonably good, and go. My lord will it go.... Even with a totally stock engine it'll go. But more than anything it needs to be fun to drive and reliable, because we'll all want a turn with it, every single one of us. In fact, it'll easily become our "bait" car, you know, the one that tempts MGB drivers to join the dark side? We'll take it to all the meets, and "Don't shut it off, here comes another one!"

I think a GT would be a good idea too, the body will be stiffer and with that kind of torque every little bit will help. So far we have an engine (potentially), and need a body, tranny, axle, and odds & ends like we're all familiar with. I think if we can get together the major components we can actually do this.

Jim

BTW, the "MY car" I was referring to would never be a sleeper under any condition, and you know it Carl!

http://ntahc.org/modifiedhealeys/Photos/126Marian/Marian.htm

not the same one but...